Credentialing

Credentialing supports you to continue your personal and professional development and enhance your career prospects.

What is credentialing?

Credentialing is the process of assessing the background and legitimacy of nurses to practice at an advanced level through assessing their qualifications, experience and competence.

Credentialing allows nurses to gain formal recognition of their level of expertise and skill in their clinical practice, their leadership, their education and their research in a way that is recognisable to colleagues, employers, patients and the public.

Credentialing is open to nurses who can demonstrate that they are working at an advanced level, practise in the NHS or independent sector and are either members or non-members of the RCN.

Nurses will require a relevant master's qualification, non-medical prescribing rights and an active membership of the NMC to credential.

Transitional arrangements will be in place until December 2020 for nurses who do not have a full master's but are currently working at an advanced level. Once a nurse has gained the credential through these arrangements RCN does not expect them to complete a full master's in the future to retain the award. Apply here

Nurses working at an advanced level discuss credentialing

How does it work?

Those who are successful in being awarded the credential will be included on a publicly available database of credentialed nurses, and will receive a badge and certificate. Opportunities to become ambassadors for advanced practice for RCN also exist alongside a dedicated annual CPD event.

There will be a cost for being included on the database and this will be renewed every three years. The initial fee is £275 inc VAT. After three years the renewal fee is £125 inc VAT.